Sunday, January 15, 2017

Ooooops...I Did It Again...

Quote for the Day:

"Blessed are the children of the piecemakers for they shall inherit the quilts"

~author unknown

I have two finishes to share today...but one of them was completely finished in December and should have been listed in the last post as a 2016 finish. This one...what I call "Shades of Brown"...When I got my new Tin Lizzie sit-down machine in December, I wanted to take it for a test run but didn't have a quilt sandwiched and ready to go. Besides, I really didn't want to use a "real quilt" for the test run. Fortunately, I had this quilt sandwich in my stash...something that was in a tote of fabric I purchased one time. It's not my colors and it really wasn't pieced very accurately, so I don't know why I didn't just pitch it...but I'm glad I didn't.I pulled it out and just did some outline quilting and meandering on it to get the feel of my new machine...

It turned out pretty well because I was able to "quilt out" the inaccuracies and able to make it lay flat. It's just a throw size, so I decided that I will send it off to Quilts For Kids (quiltsforkids.org). It will make a nice quilt for a boy and hopefully help him feel loved.The second quilt was A-L-M-O-S-T completed in 2016...I had to finish up about 1.5 hours of machine binding on Jan. 1, 2017. So "technically" it is a 2017 finish. It was the second quilt I completed on the Tin Lizzie!My grandson, Clark, turns three this June and I have a tradition of making the grandkids a "big bed" (twin) quilt for their third birthday. Clark is all about Superman and Batman...but more about Superman...so I made him a Superman quilt. I designed it myself using EQ7, so if anyone who uses EQ7 is interested in the pattern, I can send you the file.

Close-up of the quilting...

The Superman fabric that is the center of the star blocks and the border...

I like to use up the left-over fabrics to piece the back because I'm really trying to clean out my stash. By the time I've made a quilt, I've tired of the fabric...so this way I get to use it up and move it out!!!BUT...I had let Batman make a showing on the quilt, too...he's on the back...

Close-up of the quilting on the back...

I don't have a good camera, so it's hard to get a good picture of the label...

I do have plenty of Superman fabric leftover, so I think I'll make another quick quilt using it and send it to Quilts for Kids, too. You know...to get rid of the fabric! Loretta

Once I sorted out an issue that I was having with it, it has been smooth sailing!!! There was no direct instructions about threading the bobbin thread through the "pigtail" on the bobbin case. In one of the videos, it was mentioned that "you could to provide more drag on the bobbin thread". I was having trouble with the bobbin thread breaking...frequently. Once I figured out it was from "backlash" and started threading it through the pigtail, it stopped breaking and now I'M IN LOVE with this machine!!! It sure makes quick work of completing the quilts!!!